When I was a child, my grandparents retired to a rural lake in North Carolina. By rural, I mean the middle of nowhere. Each summer, I spent weeks with them, long days marked by the simmering heat that seemed to radiate through my body as I circled my bike around and around on their concrete patio. I loved being with my grandparents, but most days, I woke up to navigate a child’s worst nightmare: nothing to do.
Read MoreMy hometown was rattled recently when our unofficial mascot, an old calico cat named Francine, went missing. She had been a beloved fixture at our local Lowe’s home improvement store for almost a decade, until one day, unbeknownst to anyone, she boarded a delivery truck headed to a massive distribution center in the next state.
Read MoreWhen I remember what the locusts have eaten in my life through death, illness, rebellion, injury, sin, and more – I feel anger, sorrow, and frustration. But I also feel a longing for it all to be made right. Sadly, what humans unleashed in the Garden still slithers through our lives today, looking for something or someone to devour. In this world, locusts will always eat things.
Read MoreIn Christian vernacular, spiritual highs are often called "Mountaintop Moments" because they make us feel closer to heaven and God. But what does it mean about God or our faith if we just are not feeling it?
Read MoreI could feel it happening again. It was my son's college graduation week, and my to-do list was expanding to unrealistic proportions. I would have to do more and move faster to get it all done. But I was tired; I could feel my energy and patience diminishing by lunchtime each day.
Read MoreTalking about our faith in God to others can be intimidating on many levels. We may feel awkward, unprepared, and vulnerable when presented with an opportunity to share. Why should we go beyond our comfort zones to tell other people the reason for our hope?
Read MoreOnce, during a visit to Stockholm, Sweden, I took two of my sons to a golf course an hour north of the city. Getting there was not easy without a car. It involved riding a train and a bus, then walking two miles through rural countryside.
Read MoreBecoming a Christian bridges the "infinite abyss" born of humanity's separation from God in the Fall, but it does not guarantee we will never stand at the edge of that abyss and feel its emptiness again. Even though Christ filled our God-shaped void at the point of salvation, there is still a chasm between where we are and where we will be, and we constantly sense it.
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